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Veterans names added in August 2013 to Panel J wall at airport

By Charlotte Burrous

burrousc@canoncitydailyrecord.com

Posted:
02/12/2014 11:14:59 AM MST

Members of the 12th Tactical Fighter Wing Association salute the flag during its informal rededication in September at the Leo. S. Boston War Memorial Park in the Fremont County Airport. (Charlotte Burrous / Daily Record)

Florence — After being a part of the Col. Leo S. Boston War Memorial in the Fremont County Airport since 2001, a group of veterans have run into a brick wall to keep Panel J strictly for the 12th Tactical Fighterwing, as they said was agreed upon in the initial deal.

In early 2001, with the help of the late H. Ray Jones of the Cañon City War Memorial Park Commission, and Bill Lande, Fremont County Veterans Service Officer, the 12th veterans struck a deal with Fremont County Commissioners, Jim Shauer, Joe Rall and Keith McNew, who agreed to set aside Panel J of the memorial wall (the section nearest to the F-4C) for inscription of the names of all known 12th casualties, said Ron Doughty on the 12th Tactical Fighterwing website.

However, in August 2013, Fremont County added 81 names to Panel J. When the veterans questioned it in September, the county claimed it had consulted with a "sergeant with the 12th TFW" regarding the issue.

"We question their claim, but if such a person exists, we'd appreciate it if he would identify himself so that we may discuss the issue with him," said Doughty, who wants to keep Panel J strictly for 12th Tactical Fighterwing veterans.

Several years ago, former Veterans Service Officer Betty Hanawalt said she talked to someone about adding names to Panel J during the summer and whoever she spoke to gave a verbal OK, Fremont County Commissioner Ed Norden said.

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Hanawalt arranged to have the names engraved on available space on Panel J, which was dedicated Sept. 29.

"The new bricks were engraved in August 2013," Doughty said. "We noticed them during our re-dedication in September."

At that point, the members called the county to find out what could be done to save the panel for 12th Tactical Fighterwing members only.

"Everything fell apart," Norden said. "Late last fall, the contact for the fighterwing asked us to ... basically tear down Panel J and tear out all those bricks. The cost to do that is going to be astronomical."

The Board of Commissioners met with the Memorial Park Committee, the new Veterans Service Officer Al Augustine and the Airport Manager Richard Baker.

"We offered to add a descriptive engraved plaque with the crest of the 12th Tactical Fighterwing, indicating the names on the wall with the crest on (the bricks of) all the fallen (members) who died during the war," he said.

One of the problems was the committee and the board had a "tough time justifying the expense of all new bricks when there are empty bricks at the bottom of Panel J. We would have a tough time justifying spending public money," Norden said. "We recognize, although we could not find any documentation, that the former board of County Commissioners had offered that panel to the 12th Tactical Fighterwing."

But adding a crest is not a viable solution, Doughty said in an email.

"I believe the verbal agreement by the county to dedicate Panel J to the 12th constitutes a legal contract that could stand up in court," he said.

If the county does not comply with its verbal agreement, litigation is a possibility, Doughty said.

"Ironically, by attempting to justify their actions by claiming they consulted with the 'sergeant with the 12th TFW,' they are thereby claiming that they in fact knew that the panel was devoted to the 12th, (but created) the mess anyway," Doughty said.

Since 2001, the members, who live across the United States, host a reunion in the area every year to rededicate Panel J of the wall in memory of the members of the group who fell in Vietnam.